UEFA Euro 2016 final
The UEFA Euro 2016 final was the final match of UEFA Euro 2016, the fifteenth edition of the European Championship, UEFA's quadrennial competition for national football teams. The match was played at the Stade de France in Paris, France, on 10 July 2016, and was contested between Portugal and hosts France.
The 24-team tournament began with a group stage, from which 16 teams qualified for the knockout stage. En route to the final, Portugal finished third in Group F, with draws against Iceland, Austria and Hungary. Portugal then defeated Croatia in the last 16, Poland in the quarter-finals after a penalty shoot-out, and progressed to the final after beating Wales 2–0 in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, France finished as winners of Group A, beating Romania and Albania before drawing with Switzerland. In the knockout stage, France defeated the Republic of Ireland in the last 16, Iceland in the quarter-finals, and progressed to the final after beating Germany 2–0 in the semi-finals.
The final took place in front of 75,868 spectators, and was refereed by English official Mark Clattenburg. Following a goalless 90 minutes which saw Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo depart the match through injury, Portugal then took the lead in the 108th minute through substitute Eder, after his low shot from beat France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. This would prove to be the contest's only goal, as Portugal won 1–0 to claim their first major tournament title.
In winning the final, Portugal became the tenth different nation to win the European Championship, twelve years after losing their first final, at home in the 2004 tournament. France became the second host team to lose the final, after Portugal, and suffered their first defeat at a major tournament hosted in the country since the 1960 European Nations' Cup third place play-off against Czechoslovakia. This was the fifth European Championship final to end in a draw after 90 minutes of play, and the second whose winners were decided by extra time, after the inaugural final in 1960. As the winners, Portugal gained entry into their first FIFA Confederations Cup, which was played in Russia in 2017.
Background
was the fifteenth edition of the European Football Championship, UEFA's football competition for national teams, held between 10 June and 10 July 2016 in France. Qualifying rounds were held between September 2014 and November 2015, in which 53 teams were divided into nine groups of five or six, playing each other on a home-and-away round-robin tournament basis. The top two teams in each group, along with France, the host team, qualified for the finals, as did Turkey who had the best third-place record. The remaining four places were determined via two-legged play-offs involving the other eight third-placed teams. In the final tournament, the 24 teams were divided into six groups of four with each team playing each other once within the group. The two top teams from each group along with the four best third-placed sides advanced to a knock-out phase.France had previously played in two European Championship finals, winning as tournament hosts against Spain in 1984, and via a golden goal against Italy in the Netherlands in 2000. Portugal had played in one prior final, losing to Greece in their own country in 2004. The two teams had previously met 24 times, their first encounter taking place in 1926 when France won 4–2 in Toulouse. Before the final, France had won eighteen of those meetings, Portugal five, and with one draw. Portugal's last victory was in a 1975 friendly in France, after which France won all ten of the subsequent meetings. All three of their previous competitive meetings – in the semi-finals of Euro 1984, Euro 2000, and the 2006 FIFA World Cup – had been French victories. At the start of the tournament, Portugal were listed in eighth place in the FIFA World Rankings, while France were seventeenth.
The final was held at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris. The announcement of the venue was made by UEFA, along with the full tournament schedule, on 25 April 2014, following a meeting held in Paris. The French capital had hosted the finals of two previous European Championships, in 1960 and 1984, both at the Parc des Princes. A UEFA Category Four stadium, the Stade de France is the sixth-largest stadium in Europe and was the largest venue of Euro 2016, with a maximum capacity for the tournament of 80,000. The final was the seventh match played in the stadium at Euro 2016, which included the tournament's opening game between France and Romania.
Route to the final
Portugal
After qualifying for Euro 2016 as winners of Group I with seven wins and a defeat in their eight matches, Portugal were drawn in Group F for the finals tournament. Their first group game was against Iceland at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne on 14 June. Gylfi Sigurðsson had two early chances to put Iceland ahead but both shots were saved by Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patrício, before Nani gave Portugal the lead in the 31st minute after a cross from André Gomes. Five minutes into the second half, Iceland equalised when Birkir Bjarnason scored from a Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson cross that had been missed by Portugal's Vieirinha. Despite having the majority of the possession and more shots throughout the match, Portugal were unable to retake the lead and the game ended 1–1. Portugal's second opponents were Austria at the Parc des Princes four days later. The first half ended goalless, but late in the second half, Portugal were awarded a penalty kick. Cristiano Ronaldo, who became his country's most-capped player in that game, was fouled in Austria's penalty area by defender Martin Hinteregger but missed the penalty, striking the foot of the goalpost. He also had a header disallowed for offside and the match ended 0–0.File:1 cristiano ronaldo 2016.jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=Cristiano Ronaldo|Cristiano Ronaldo became his country's most capped player during the tournament.
In their final group match, Portugal faced Hungary at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Décines-Charpieu on 22 June. Zoltán Gera gave Hungary the lead in the 19th minute with a volley, before Nani struck a low shot past Gábor Király in the Hungary goal following a pass from Ronaldo to level the scores. Balázs Dzsudzsák restored Hungary's lead two minutes after half-time with a deflected shot, only for Ronaldo to make it 2–2 three minutes later. Dzsudzsák scored his second deflected strike in the 55th minute, but Ronaldo equalised once again, this time with a header in the 60th minute. The match ended 3–3, and with a late winning goal from Iceland against Austria, Portugal ended the group stage in third place. Only four of the six third-placed teams qualified; Portugal were ranked third of the six and progressed along with Slovakia, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
In the round of 16, Portugal faced Group D winners Croatia at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens on 25 June. The match was described by the BBC Sport's Saj Chowdhury as "a turgid affair", and noted as a game that "won't live long in anyone's memory" by Barry Glendenning in The Guardian. Regular time ended goalless without a single shot in the first 24 minutes, a European Championship record. With three minutes of extra time remaining, Ronaldo's shot was kept out by Danijel Subašić, the Croatia goalkeeper, but Ricardo Quaresma headed in the rebound from close range to give Portugal a 1–0 victory.
Portugal's quarter-final opponents, at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille on 30 June, were Poland, who took an early lead when Kamil Grosicki's cross was struck into the Portugal goal by Robert Lewandowski within the opening two minutes, the second-fastest goal scored in the history of the tournament at the time. With 17 minutes of the first half remaining, Renato Sanches played a one-two with Nani and struck a shot that deflected off Grzegorz Krychowiak into the Poland goal to level the scores at 1–1. The second half of the match was goalless, as were the two halves of extra time, so the game went to a penalty shoot-out. Ronaldo, Sanches and João Moutinho scored their penalties for Portugal, while Lewandowski, Arkadiusz Milik and Kamil Glik replied for Poland to make it 3–3. Nani then put Portugal ahead before Jakub Błaszczykowski's strike was saved by Rui Patrício. Quaresma scored Portugal's fifth penalty to seal the win and progression to the semi-finals.
Portugal returned to the Parc Olympique Lyonnais on 6 July to face Wales, who were participating in their first major tournament since the 1958 FIFA World Cup. After a goalless first half, Portugal took the lead five minutes after the interval, when Ronaldo headed past Wayne Hennessey, the Wales goalkeeper, following a short corner. Three minutes later, Nani diverted a long-range shot from Ronaldo past Hennessey to give Portugal a 2–0 victory and progression to the UEFA European Championship final.
France
Having qualified for Euro 2016 automatically as hosts, France were placed in Group A for the finals. In their first group match, they faced Romania at the Stade de France on 10 June. Antoine Griezmann came closest to scoring in a goalless first half when he struck the Romania goalpost with a header. Thirteen minutes into the second half, France took the lead when Olivier Giroud headed in Dimitri Payet's cross. Seven minutes later, Patrice Evra fouled Romania's Nicolae Stanciu in the France penalty area and Bogdan Stancu levelled the scores from the resulting penalty kick. With a minute of the match remaining, Payet scored from to give France a 2–1 victory.France's next opponents were Albania, against whom they played five days later at the Stade Vélodrome. Albania defended well and came close to taking the lead when Ledian Memushaj's shot hit the post. France scored in the last minute of normal time with the game's first shot on target when Griezmann headed in Adil Rami's cross. Six minutes into stoppage time and with the final kick of the match, Payet scored and France won 2–0. In their final group match, France played Switzerland at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Villeneuve-d'Ascq on 19 June. Paul Pogba hit the frame of Switzerland's goal twice, while Payet also hit the crossbar. Bacary Sagna pulled the shirt of Switzerland's Blerim Džemaili in stoppage time in France's penalty area but no penalty was awarded, and the match ended 0–0. France ended as Group A winners and progressed to the round of 16.
France faced the third-placed team from Group E, the Republic of Ireland, at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais on 26 June. In the second minute, Pogba fouled Shane Long in the France penalty area and Robbie Brady scored the resulting penalty to give the Republic of Ireland a 1–0 lead. Griezmann scored the equaliser with a header for France twelve minutes after half-time, before scoring his second four minutes later to make it 2–1. Shane Duffy was shown a red card in the 66th minute for a professional foul on Griezmann and although France won the match 2–1, both Rami and N'Golo Kanté were unavailable in the next round, having picked up two bookings in the tournament.
France's quarter-final opponents were Iceland, who had knocked out England in the previous round. Giroud put France into the lead after 12 minutes with a low shot before Pogba doubled his side's advantage with a header eight minutes later. Payet scored in the 43rd minute with a low shot from around, before Griezmann increased the lead further with a lob over Hannes Þór Halldórsson, the Iceland goalkeeper, to make it 4–0 just before half-time. Kolbeinn Sigþórsson scored for Iceland eleven minutes after the interval, before Giroud restored France's four-goal lead with a header from a Payet free kick. Bjarnason scored a headed goal with six minutes of the match remaining, but that proved to be the final goal as the game ended 5–2.
In the semi-finals, France faced Germany, the 2014 FIFA World Cup winners, at the Stade Vélodrome on 7 July in a rematch of the 2014 World Cup quarter-final. Two minutes into first-half stoppage time, Bastian Schweinsteiger was adjudged to have handled the ball when he challenged Evra in the penalty area, and Griezmann scored the resulting penalty to give France a 1–0 lead at half-time. With 18 minutes of the match remaining, Griezmann scored from close range after Manuel Neuer had failed to clear a cross from Pogba. Joshua Kimmich almost pulled a goal back for Germany, but his shot hit the frame of the France goal and his header on the rebound was saved by Hugo Lloris. The match ended 2–0 to give France their first victory over Germany in a major tournament since the 1958 FIFA World Cup.